Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Dogfish Head Alehouse

Seven Corners Shopping Ctr
6220 Leesburg Pike
Falls Church, VA 22044
(703) 534-3342
www.dogfishalehouse.com

Visited:
June 29, 2010




Checked out this place the other day during a lunchtime outing with my buddy Steve L. Although I wanted to hit Bangkok Golden's AYCE Thai lunch again, I really I wanted to try out the Dogfish Head Ale's food and possibly one of their brews. While we were there, I checked out the menu and saw a lot of great looking food that would be perfect for those imbibing in some drinks as everything seemed hearty and a perfect compliment to a beer drinking visit.

Umm...beer...

The lunchtime menu had a variety of food ranging from sandwiches, burgers and salads to hearty entrees of gumbo and fish 'n chips. There's pretty much anything for everyone on the menu and they even had a good veggie friendly offering. After scanning the menu, I settled on the BBQ chicken salad (lunch special for that day) while Steve ordered a basket of fried goodies (onion rings, fresh potato chips and french fries) and a Garlic Caesar salad.

When my salad arrived it, the presentation was quite nice. The beans, corn, BBQ chicken and green onions were each given 1/4 area of the salad bowl which looked very nice. I mixed up the ingredients and took a bite. The flavors and ingredients combined well and the BBQ sauce from the chicken gave the salad an extra tasty flavor. The only criticism I had about the salad was that they were a bit heavy handed with the dressing which made the salad super rich.

I told myself that if I ever ordered a salad again at the Dogfish that I'd ask for the dressing on the side to control the amount of dressing that goes into my belly. :-) Steve's basket of fried stuff was a mountain of crispy goodness. On bringing out the huge basket of fried stuff, two large onion rings accidentally escaped the server's tray and fell onto the floor. The server was very apologetic and promised to make it up to Steve. A few minutes later he brought out a few more onion rings to replace the ones that had fallen from the basket of fried goodness.

I must now talk about this basket. Wow! It was huge (that's what she said) and was filled to capacity with freshly fried potato chips, huge onion rings and French fries. The cool thing about the onion rings were that they were made with red onions which gave them a bit more flavor. Steve was kind enough to share the bounty of the basket and I happily dove in chomping down onions rings and fries.

I definitely enjoyed my visit to the Dogfish and will be back! Looking forward to trying out some more of their beers. Oh yeah, I had a beer with my lunch...and it was tasty. Shhhh! Don't tell anyone!!!

:-)

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Jason's Deli

7505 Leesburg Pike
Falls Church, VA 22043
(703) 448-5514
www.jasonsdeli.com/location/DCT

Visited:
June 27, 2010



Had you asked me about Jason's Deli a few months back I would've told you they're a 4-star place due to the consistency of the food and generous portions.

Now, not so much....

The food has changed a bit as some of our favorites are made a bit differently....almost knocking Jason's off of our favorite local stuff yo face places for lunch.

Example: The Sgt Pepper Po Boy used to be stuffed with a ton of roast beef, roasted red chili peppers and smothered in so much cheese your doctor would smack you in the back of the head and ask, "Seriously? Seriously? You're really going to eat that much cheese?". On recent visits, the same sandwich seems a bit "anemic" with less toppings and size that's no longer impressive.

Yes, size does matter.

The free ice cream is good, not the highest quality stuff but how can you really complain when it's F-R-A-H?!?! It's a great place for us to bring the monkeys when they're in a rowdy mood as they can munch on their food and then we can tame the little beasts with an ice cream dessert.

Another favorite which hasn't changed too much is the baked potato with chicken and pico de gallo sauce. Oh yeah, if you're never had one of their full sized baked potatoes they are friggin ENOURMOUS monsters!! The wife and I usually end up sharing one as it's just way too much carbs for a single person to ingest in a single sitting.

Their chili also pairs well with their baked potato as we've been known to order a small cup and pour some on our baked potato goodness.

Yummers...

Hopefully the quality of the food will not decrease and will go back to the same level as when they first opened. I'm no longer inclined to order their sandwiches anymore but will probably go the salad bar or the baked potato route on future visits.

BTW, the one thing I love about this location is being able to call ahead and place an order for pick-up. On days when there's no food in the house or the monkeys have been especially crazy...I've been known to call Jason's Deli and placed an order for pick-up. It's a great way to score extra points with the bossy lady and cuts out the need for either of us to cook after a long day. The food is always warm, well cooked and as long as I arrive there in time to pick it up makes it to our little home fresh and warm.

Although the pick-up service is great, my choice is still to eat in so I can enjoy the free ice cream. :-)

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Baked & Wired

1052 Thomas Jefferson St NW
Washington, DC 20007
(202) 333-2500
www.bakedandwired.com

Visited:
June 26, 2010




Despite the nickname of "Cupcakes Antonio" bestowed upon me by my most favorite Yelpers, I had yet to:

1) Visit a cupcake place in DC
2) Write a review about a cupcake place in DC

Well my friends, the time has come for me to lose my cupcake virginity by reviewing my first "mini cake" place. What better place to be the source of my first cupcake review Baked & Wired (BW)? Here's how it went down...

This morning (Saturday) I packed up the monkeys while the boss lady slept, filled up the minivan with petrol and made a mad dash to DC. I was excited at the idea of arriving right at 8am when they opened to beat any sort of rush and to avoid the infamous Georgetown traffic.

We arrived right at 8am and found a parking spot right in front of the store. Schweeet-ah! I unloaded the monkeys, grabbed them by the hands and headed into BW.

The inside had that very clean appearance with the beverage section split from the pastry section by a brick wall. The pastry area had a variety of sweet offerings under glass domes while a representative of each cupcake offering was proudly displayed on a plate next to their name. My mouth was watering and I was glad that I hadn't had anything to eat just yet.

I decided to walk on the edge of danger by pushing my body to the brink of becoming a diabetic; I ordered 7 cupcakes. Here's a list what I ordered (descriptions from their website):

1) Chocolate Cupcake of Doom - Chocolate cake with a dark chocolate satin frosting

2) Vanilla Latte - Vanilla cake with an espresso buttercream

3) Strawberry - Vanilla cake with fresh strawberries folded in the batter finished with a swirl of pink buttercream.

4) Red Velvet - A little chocolate, a little vanilla, and lots of deep red color, topped with a heap of cream cheese frosting

5) Mocha - Chocolate cake with a mocha buttercream

6) Razmanian Devil - Lemon cake with a raspberry jam center topped with lemon buttercream

7) Smurfette - Fresh blueberries are baked into vanilla cake, topped with lemon buttercream

The 7th cupcake was for the boys who were already tugging at my leg and shorts asking me, "Daddy cupcake? Daddy cupcake?". The gentleman that took our order was very kind and placed 6 of the 7 cupcakes in a box and just as I had requested, put the 7th on a dish to eat there.

I walked the boys, my box of cupcakes and the dish holding the Smurfette cupcake to a lounge type leather seat/couch area. As soon as we sat down, the boys eagerly reached for the cupcake trying their best to wrestle the sweet goodness from my hands. I sat them down, told them to listen and proceeded to rip off pieces of the Smurfette cupcake.

"Ummm...ummm!" was the response I heard from both boys as small crumbs escapes their mouths and fell onto the leather couch. They clearly enjoyed the early morning treat and I felt like the father of the year feeding by sons such sweet treats so early in the morning. Please don't call child services on me!

I took a bit of the Smurfette cupcake and was impressed by the moist texture of the vanilla cake and the subtle sweet 'n tartness of the lemon frosting. Each bite had a blueberry and these bits of blueness each held its own tart goodness to further offset the sweetness of the cake. To sum it up, it was good. :-)

Once the boys finished up their cupcake, we hopped back into the minivan and headed home. I knew I couldn't properly try out the rest of the cupcakes with the boys around so I waited until they went down for a nap.

As the boys napped, and with a fresh homemade microwave latte in hand I began my work. I took a 1/4 from each of the six cupcakes to best sample them individually. Here are my opinions about each cupcake and a ranking based on my unscientifically and fatboy funded study:

6) Red Velvet - Surprisingly, it was a bit dry which made it taste not too fresh or appealing.

5) Razmanian Devil - I really hate raspberry, but tried this cupcake anyway. The cake was moist and was filled with a raspberry jam center. The lemon frosting was tasty.

4) Mocha - Tasty chocolate cake and the mocha butter cream was great!

3) Vanilla Latte - The espresso butter cream makes the vanilla cupcake shine!

2) Chocolate Cupcake of Doom - OMG, a dream come true for chocolate lovers. The frosting was so smooth, soft and rich that I want to come back (reincarnated) as this cupcake.

1) Strawberry - Wow, I never thought a fruity cupcake would be my favorite. This cupcake had it all: great flavor, not too sweet and an amazingly moist cake that had me saying, "Yabba dabba doo this is goooood!!"

All of the cupcakes had a great balance between the cake and their respective frosting. BW does a great job of not making the cake too sweet and really delivering most of the sweetness via the frosting.

I was very impressed and despite my body now asking me to eat a 98 oz steak to counter all of the ingested sugar...I'll definitely come back to try more cupcakes...just one per visit.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Big Buns

4401 Wilson Blvd
Arlington, VA 22203
(703) 276-3032
http://www.eatbigbuns.com/

Visited:
June 18, 2010




Antonio likes the Big Buns....

Wasn't "wowed" but I enjoyed my first visit to the double-B.

Came here with two of my former coworker buddies for lunch. I was excited after visiting the BB website and after reading a few of the Yelp reviews. As much as I wanted to get a burger, I wanted something light and opted for the mahi mahi as the dead animal of choice.

All of the toppings are quite impressive and I placed an order for mahi mahi on a bun with a friggin' mountain order of toppings. I think the main reason I went crazy with the toppings order was to see how they could pile on all that goodness on my sammich. It was also a great way for me to sample the various toppings. Here's the list of toppings I chose for my mahi mahi (not to be confused with my wife of a similar name) sandwich:

- Pickles
- Jalapenos
- Lettuce
- Tomatoes
- Grilled Onions
- Roasted Red Peppers
- Roasted Corn Salsa
- Mushrooms
- Chipotle Pesto Aioli

As I finished placing my order, I was truly tempted to buy a beer to go with my drink but instead opted for a small fountain soda. I also ordered a side of fries and the bill for the sammich, drink and fries came out to just over $12.

The layout of this BB location is very similar to the layout of a Chipotle with benches and chairs in the center and a line area leading straight to the register. We found table, and chatted away as we waited for a server to bring our food. For those of you thinking of going there, when you order your food "to eat in" you're given a number and must then find a seat where a server will bring out your food.

When the sandwich finally arrived (at bit of a wait due to the lunch rush), I was impressed at the size of the *ahem* Big Bun and all the toppings piled high on my mahi mahi. At first glance, the mahi mahi was represented by a four thin strips of fish and had a flimsy dry appearance. I didn't wait and grabbed my monster sized sandwhich and took a huge bite.

The mahi mahi wasn't impressive in flavor but all the toppings did save the sandwich. There was so much flavor coming from the grilled onions and roasted red peppers that the bland taste of fish almost didn't matter. I really enjoyed the toppings and did my best to best navigate my mouth around the puffy bread without making too much of a mess.

One of my friends ordered the chicken sandwich which looked juicy and much more impressive than my thin mahi mahi strips. I coveted her sandwich and knew that I definitely need to come back to try the chicken or hamburger sandwiches.

Luckily I wasn't completely turned off by the flavor / size of the mahi mahi and would love to return and give BB another try. Next time I'll bring the monkeys and the wife who is our resident sweet potato fry connoisseur.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Smokey Glen Farm Barbequers Inc

16407 Riffle Ford Rd
Gaithersburg, MD 20877
(301) 948-9170
www.smokeyglenfarm.com

Visited:
June 12, 2010




Smokey Glen and Cupcakes Antonio have a looooooooong history. Smokey Glen is like that crazy ex-girlfriend that loved to cook and feed me, but always picked the hottest days to throw her cookouts. No matter how much I'd say to myself, "This is THE last time I visit this crazy dame" she ends up wooing me back with her free food and grilled treats.

The first time I visited Smokey Glen was back in the summer of 1994 when the bank I used to work for held it's annual picnic on the ground. Although the bank was local, they went all out with the food at Smokey Glen and even served beer and alcohol to keep their bank employees "hydrated" in the hot summer sun. I worked at that bank for over 4 years (while in college) and each summer we'd all look forward to the summer trip to Smokey Glen to get our food, dessert and drank on until my belly was full of beer, grilled meat and various fruit pies cooked over hot coals...yum.

After graduating from college and leaving the bank, my annual summer BBQs at Smokey Glen came to an end. It was a bit sad but I figured the end of the free summer BBQ party was just a part of growing up; a post college life. But that would not be the last time I would see Smokey Glen.

Fast forward six years later. I met my future wife to be and surprise surprise! Her company held their annual summer BBQs at Smokey Glen. Free beer and free food had returned to the life of this fat boy. The food was the same (okay, not too bad) but was made even better by the cold frosty brews they happily served to all the visitors. Nothing says happiness in my book (the book of Antonio, King James Edition) than a cold frosty beer and some BBQ'ed chicken. Ummm....I once again had an annual summer trip to Smokey Glen. Yee-haw!

Once the wife left her company after the birth of our monkeys, the summer trips to Smokey Glen were no more. Sad Antonio. :-(

**insert sad sad violin music here by some classical artist that makes me sound much smarter than I am**

Stop the music...Smokey Glen was out of my life...but not completely outta my life. "She" came back into my life this year after receiving a company email a few months ago telling us employees to saved the date for the annual summer picnic at Smokey Glen.

!!!!!

Smokey Glen! I was so excited and thoughts of the BBQ'ed chicken and other dead animals roasting on hot coals filled my mind. And the beer...I knew they would have some frosty cold ones to ward off the hot summer heat and humidity... I really looked forward to the picnic as past experiences at Smokey Glen danced in my head...to sum it up, I couldn't wait!!

When the day finally arrived, I was surprised to see that Smokey Glen had been completely redone. Gone was the single picnic area with a HUGE parking lot (field). Smokey Glen was not split into four different areas with their own parking areas, playgrounds and baseball fields. Everything looked new and better organized from my last trip a few years back.

As I walked up to the area designated for our company, my heart sank. The long army of grills stocked with chicken, hamburgers, hotdogs and steak were replaced by three grills roasting chicken. A few tubs of potato salad were in the "fixins" area along with some bean salad, lettuce and other sparse side items....

Disappointed...

I told myself it was okay as I didn't need some burgers as the tasty Smokey Glen chicken was enough for me as long as they had some beer. Meeting up with my coworkers I set my plate on a table and asked about the drinks. One coworker told me, "They only have soda".

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!"

Yep, no beer...no wine. The only thing available was water, Pepsi and lemonade. Ugh...apparently our company had not only taken the cheap route with the food but they also saved a LOT of money by not serving alcohol. I was so disappointed. The only thing that made a hot summer picnic bearable at Smokey Glen was a cold frosty beer.

That's when I realized that what made Smokey Glen fun in the past was the flowing beer. Without a cold cerveza, the food just seemed "okay" and the heat and sweat seemed to creep into all those cervices in my body. Ugh...I was SO disappointed.

Despite my great summer memories of the past, the Smokey Glen food was only worth 2 stars. I bumped them up to 3 stars because part of the new remodel create a ton of new play areas that kept my kids happy. I also loved the magician-clown that kept our boys entertained despite their fussy non-napping crankiness.

Will I return next year to Smokey Glen for the company picnic? Probably not...not unless they serve some brews. :-)

Friday, June 11, 2010

Ledo Pizza - Falls Church

7510 Leesburg Pike
Falls Church, VA 22043
(703) 847-5336
www.ledopizza.com

Visited:
June 11, 2010




Let me start off this review by telling you that I'm not a Ledo's fan. My dislike of the pizza and this joint comes from years of frequenting this location and the Ledo's brand and still leaving unsatisfied.

As a kid the parental units would bring us to this Ledo's or would pick up a square pizza on the way home. The same thing would happen, my stomach would bloat up and I'd end up feeling like a human Goodyear blimp for the rest of the day. Something about the cheese or sauce they use leaves my mouth super-dry, makes me drink a ton 'o water which then ends up making me retaining water like a mo-fo.

Once I was a big boy and could buy my own food and be all Mr Responsible, I never went back to Ledo's. There were so many other pizza joints I'd rather patronize where the quality of the pizza and the environment was so worth my time and money. So how did I end up at Ledo's after learning my lesson all those years ago?

Work. Yep, my office had a two hour lunchtime webinar where our supervisor decided to treat us to pizza. Awesome! Then it was revealed the pizza was ordered from this Ledo's location. Grumble... I went with a fellow coworker to pick up the pizza and was initially surprised how this location had "remodeled" their bar area into a sports themed set-up. Gone was the smokey bar with ball cap wearing patrons hoisting their beer with nicotine colored fingers...

The bar area now boasted almost 7 flat screen TVs perfectly positioned to watch your favorite sporting event. As we waited for the pizzas, we checked out the World Cup schedule and even considered coming to catch one or two of the 2pm games. Our pizza was ready and the manager told us we owed almost $55 for two large pizzas (one veggie lovers and one meat lovers) and a medium Hawaiian pizza. $55 seemed a bit too pricey for 3 Ledo's pizzas and I secretly wished we could have spent this money at 2 Amys...

Hurrying back to the office the car took on a thick and heavy pizza smell which made us all the more hungry. Although I was starving by the time our webinar started, memories of that water retaining bloatedness came into my head.

Should I eat this pizza?

Will the pizza make me swell up like a balloon?

Am I gonna have dry mouth after eating this pizza?

Will it give me bubble guts?

What is the square root of 455933? :-)

I ate the pizza, thought the flavor was okay but then the cheese seemed a bit heavy. I don't know how to explain it but it just didn't seem right. The crust was okay and maybe due to all of the veggie toppings and the fact that our pizza was in a box, the bottom of the crust ended up sticking to the thin sheet of wax paper...

The flavor didn't wow me and I was happy to give this pizza 3 stars. Then it happened...

As the meeting went that dry mouth feeling returned and I ended up drinking all of my water. Soon the bloated feeling returned and I felt as someone had filled my stomach with a ton of air. Ugh...my belt tightened and my pants felt uncomfortably tight...

Thoughts of going home and changing outta my work slacks and into my comfortable Umbro shorts danced in my mind. I couldn't concentrate on the rest of the webinar and just wanted to go home.

Damn you Ledo's and your dry-mouth bloat my fat belly recipe!! I guess I was hoping that after all those years of not eating your pizza I'd be surprised; surprised that a new recipe / ingredients would prevent me from swelling up again...

For that, you lose 1 star. Based on past experience and just an overall aversion to your pizza, I can't see myself ever going back to try anything from Ledo's again.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

The Fisherman's Crab Deck

3032 Kent Narrow Way S
Grasonville, MD 21638
(410) 827-6666
www.crabdeck.com

Visited: June 6, 2010




Do me a favor...

Close your eyes.

Now picture yourself tired and weary after a loooooooong and fun day at the beach. You just spent the day hauling tons of equipment (tent, chairs, beach umbrella and a variety of kids' toys) to the beach, chasing after your twin monkeys, rinsing sand out of the most intimate of crevices (both your own and your kids') and then at the end of the day hauling back all of the stuff back to the family mini van.

Add to this the fact that you drove 3 hours to the beach and almost 3 hours back home. Before crossing over the Bay Bridge you pull off a route 50 exit on Kent's Island in an area called Kent's Narrow with one thing in mind; an ice cold beer and some tasty food. By now your body is tired, your mind is exhausted and your stomach is growling out loud like Sloth from "The Goonies".

"Raaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwrrrrrrrrrrrrr!! Hey you guuuuuuuuys!!"

"Shut up Sloth!!"

As you pull into the parking lot of this place you see groups of cars parked in front of a turquoise blue building sitting at the edge of the water. The time between pulling into the parking lot and being seated at the table are all a blur as hunger has now taken over. It's okay...you look around and know you're in a safe place that'll take care of you. You're now at the Fisherman's Crab Deck.

Picture yourself tired...not anymore. You feel some energy come into you as you're seated at a table overlooking the bay and boats parked at a pier.

Picture yourself thirsty...not anymore. Any thirst is soon quenched as your first beer quickly goes down. The beer so cold that large drops of condensation form on the outside of your plastic cup.

Picture yourself hungry...not anymore. From freshly steamed crabs to shrimp to soft shell clams. There is such a variety of delicious seafood that the best within will soon be satisfied with sacrificial offerings of Maryland's finest seafood offerings.

Picture yourself...satisfied. What a wonderful way to break up the long drive home. With smiling wait staff who are always happy to see you no matter how stinky you may be (smelling of sweat, sea water and sunscreen lotion), they'll happily seat you to a table, bring you a cold drink and bring anything from their menu.

On this last visit the boss lady and I shared a Steamed Variety Pot which was made up of two blue crabs, snow crab legs, clams, steamed shrimp and soft shell clams. Everything was delicious but not enough to feed two hungry adults and two starving little monkeys. We ended up ordering another pound of steamed shrimp which I washed down with my frosty plastic cup of Blue Moon beer. Ummm...tasty seafood satisfying meal with beeeeeeeeeeer. Yummers...

So we all love coming here on our way back from the beach and a stop at the Fisherman's Crab Deck has now become sort of a family tradition. Just so you know, I must give my Dad full credit for telling us about this place. My Dad was the one who discovered this little restaurant which has become a "must visit" for any member of our family whenever we come back from the beach. Thanks Pops!

Tarara Winery

13648 Tarara Ln
Leesburg, VA 20176
(703) 771-7100
www.tarara.com

Visited:
June 6, 2010




Wow wow wow!

Pulling off of route 15 I wasn't expecting much out of a winery/vineyard that was still pretty close to the shopping madness that is Leesburg Outlet. As our mini van passed through the entrance of Tara Winery, all doubts were immediately erased.

The long gravel path that leads you from the roadway entrance to the wine tasting parking is a long and beautiful drive. I felt like I was home among the trees, the gorgeous lake all surrounded by beautiful green foliage. My emotions were mixed as I felt jealously for not owning such an amazing piece of property, joy for being in a place that appealed to my nature loving side and uncertainty as the sky looked like it was about to open up and rain down on our wine tasting excursion.

We parked the mini van in a gravel lot and headed up a path to the main wine tasting area. Before we reached the entrance, there were a series of wooden stairs that forced us to carry our two monkeys (strollers and all) up a few flights.

Finally reaching the entrance I marveled at the design of the building as it appears to have been built into the side of a hill. The outside of the wine tasting entrance had a large deck where patrons seated at tables overlooked a tall drop who's high elevation was masked by thick green trees. Just a beautifully amazing sight that said, "Nature is the setting while people and their building are just visiting."

We walked inside the door, down the hallway and were met by a cashier who greeted us with a big smile and showed us a listings of the wines that we would enjoy as part of the wine tasting. The wine tasting was only $10 which wasn't too bad for the price.

Once we started tasting the wine, we were happily surprised and gleeful at paying only $10 for the wine tasting. The wine was delicious and to date was THE best VA wine I have ever tasted. After enjoying some whites and reds we settled on buying a bottle of Charval white which was chilled and perfect for such a hot summer day.

Chilled wine in hand, kids in tow and a picnic basket slug on one of the kids' strollers we headed over to the man made beach on the Tarara property. The boys eagerly giggle in anticipation as they saw the small artificial sand beach at the edge of one of the lake's edges. The boys jumped out of their strollers and began frolicking in the water as the wife and I began sipping cold glasses of Charval wine.

The boys enjoyed themselves and we too had fun snacking on Manchego cheese and crackers as we continued to sip our tasty wine. Thankfully the rain stayed away and the cloudy skies passed by giving way to a hot intense sun. What an amazing view we had here on the Tarara property; a gorgeous lake in the middle of a green sanctuary with small fishes swimming around our boys' little toes.

This was the life and a perfect way to start off a weekend after such a Hellacious week of crappy contractors and a super-busy week. With each sip of wine and nibble of cheese the stress of the past week just fell away...washing off of us like the sand off of our boys' feet as the splashed in the water of Tarara's lake.

I fell in love with Tarara that day and knew that this would not be our only visit. The wife and I talked about coming back soon and knew we had to bring our other friends and my parents to this gorgeous place...and to taste their amazing wine.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Tiffany's Bakery

6385 Seven Corners Center
Falls Church, VA 22044
(703) 241-0271

Visited: June 4, 2010




How does a fat boy top off an All You Can Eat (AYCE) lunch outing?

Well he waddles his fat ass over to the bakery 2 doors down and buys 5 pounds of cookies.

Yep, that really did happen...

After stuffing my face, I walked over with my buddy Steve and we picked up a huge box of assorted cookies. Truth be told, the cookies were for the boss lady who enjoys some something sweet (besides my sweet kisses) after a long day of watching the two monkeys.

As I picked out an assortment of cookies for the wife, Steve pointed out some tasty looking cookies and cakes that I may have to try out for myself on our next visit. One such cookie was the pecan chocolate chip cookie which looked very tasty. They also had a huge assortment of tarts, danishes and fruit topped mini-cakes perfect for satisfying a fat boy's sweet tooth cravings.

The service was friendly but the place was pretty busy for the middle of the day. One lady (owner or a regular) was typing away madly on her computer with paper laid out all over the table before her. The only reason I mention her here is that she was on her cell phone and was talking in an annoyingly loud volume that made all us patrons turn around and take notice.

Silly dame...

Now on to the taste of the cookies.

After finishing up the day of work and heading home, I presented my better half with the box 'o cookies. We tried them out and were not wowed and were not disappointed. The taste of the cookies were simply "enh" but I would definitely like to go back to try out some of the other cakes and treats in the display case.

Also after reading another fellow Yelper's review I'd love to try out the rum infused cake...

Alcohol + cake = Buzzed and happy fat boy

I'll keep you posted after my next trip.

Tiffany's Bakery on Urbanspoon

Bangkok Golden

6395 Seven Corners Center
Falls Church, VA 22044
(703) 533-9480
www.bangkokgoldenrestaurant.com

Visited: June 4, 2010




I like food.

Food likes me.

I like when food likes me, which makes me like food even more.

I eat because I like food. I'm fat because I eat food.

My fat belly demands even more food....thus I looove all you can eat (AYCE) buffet type places.

Okay, now on to the important stuff!!

Today's last-minute lunch visit was courtesy of my boy Steve "Batman" L who suggested Bangkok Golden or Dogfish Head Alehouse as today's lunchtime choices. As soon as he mentioned "Thai Buffet" to describe Bangkok Golden, my stomach growled loudly as if to say, "Hey fat ass, pick the buffet! PICK THE BUFFET!!"

Okay okay, I'll pick the buffet....ya jiggly jerk....sheesh!

We met up at the Bangkok (btw, I love saying Bangkok as it makes me chuckle like a little kid that loves saying naughty curse words) and entered into the small little place. There was a boisterous older lady in glasses that was directing patrons to the buffet with emphatic "Please help yourselves to the buffet!!!"

When this lady asked us where we wanted to sit, we opted for the single table next to a wall versus sitting in the middle of the large table elbow-to-elbow to other hungry patrons. Before we headed to our table, we made a straight line to the stack of plates and hit the buffet line.

Steve happily pointed out his favorite dishes and I quickly stacked a pile of tasty Thai treats on my plate. From the classic Pad Thai, to Drunken Noodles to the Coconut Curry Tofu....it was all on my plate and delicious. "Nom nom nom" were the only sounds we made as we stuffed our faces while managing to squeeze in a few words in between bites.

So as with any other buffet/AYCE type places I give them a special pass. What do I mean? Well lemme 'splain it to you...

I'm not as harsh on AYCE places for the quality of food for the reason that they're AYCE places. My expectations are a bit lower because I know that they have to make food for the masses and which may sacrifice quality in exchange for quantity.

For this reason I decided to give Bangkok Golden 3.5 stars...very very close to 4 stars as the food is not of the same quality/level as a order-by-the-plate Thai place, but it's very good. Honestly, Bangkok Golden's food blows away any AYCE Chinese buffet in terms of taste and quality of the food.

Keep this in mind if you feel the need to visit Bangkok Golden for the buffet. Go there knowing that you're gonna get buffet quality Thai food, don't go there expecting to eat 5-star Thai food. If you do go with the latter expectation, you've come to the wrong place and are clearly delusional...especially if you've read my entire review.

Now if you're ready for a tasty AYCE Thai experience, head on over to Bangkok Golden. Maybe you'll see Steve and I stuffing our faces with tasty Thai food. Oh yeah, as others have mentioned the price kicks serious butt; $8.95 for the weekday Thai lunch buffet. That's "smack your momma" cheap 'n good!!!

Believe that...nom nom nom!!